YANKCOM Partnership Invests $1.07 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 7,063 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,066,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Jericho Financial LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $590,000. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $309,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $164.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $155.42 and a 200 day moving average of $153.93. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.30 and a 12-month high of $167.08. The stock has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.